Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Things that I have learned from being upside down

Oh the things we learn from doing the same action over and over again.

A) Your shoulder, rib, neck, and hip muscles get sore in totally different places. You do not realize HOW sore they are until you go back upside down. Then you feel them!

B) My sinuses get all stuffed up. Singing starts to sound quite funny.. like as if I had a cold. My "m"''s and "n"'s turn into "b"'s.

C) I can see every speck of dust, and dirt on the floor since my sight level is only 4 inches above the ground. I hover there upside down thinking "Oh dear.. there are crumbs under that chair over there that I missed when I swept the floor.. I'll have to fix that later."

D) It is quite defenseless a position to be upside down, and your body KNOWS it! So when your children are chasing each other through the room as they playfight, and their feet come running in your direction, your whole body will jump with the feeling of "Arrgh! you've GOT to move out of the way.." But you can't because you are balanced on your head, and elbows. Then when you try to yell out to the kids "HEY! No! Stop it! Slow down!!" it comes out in a gargled "EH! DOH! Dop id! Sdow dowd!!!"

E) Your heart just melts as your 6 year old son comes up to you twists his head, and torso around as much as possible so that he can look at you, and yet struggle to remain standing, and then he says "Mommy.. would you like me to hold your legs up for you, or maybe I can help you in another way? I'm a good helper."

F) Shoes on your feet, as you try to get into an upside down position, will make it more difficult to kick off and balance. They add extra weight on the end, and make everything more challenging. I learned to take off my shoes.

G) Always be sure that your shirt is tucked into your pants before you go upside down.. Nothing feels more vulnerable for a woman than feeling your shirt slowing lower, covering your face, and exposing your bra to the world as you hold the upside down position.

H) More than 2 minutes of upside downess will create quite a feeling of dizziness when you come back upright.

I) Make sure that your bladder is empty when you go upside down. What a strange, wierd, and almost awful feeling to have a full bladder come bumping down into yourself when you invert. EEEWWWW! I nearly fell over in surprise when it happened to me the first time.

8 comments:

Mathieu said...

LOL

I tried it this weekend in sympathy. I hate the feeling. My head feels like 200 lbs.

Ugh.

Hang in there!

Mir said...

um hum! yep... your head starts to feel like it's ballooning outwards. Very uncomfortable, and unusual.

I console myself with the knowledge that our arteries and veins in our head have little automatic shunts that prevent too much blood from coming up there.

Mathieu said...

I was really dizzy, coming back from that position. I had my feet up the wall, I don't have enough balance to stay there by myself.

But, it's said to have lot of good benefical virtues. Lots of yoga positions are upside down.

I'll try it again tonight outside if it doesn't rain. If I fall, that grass will be a semi-soft cushion. That's a hard requirement. I don't know if I could pull that off. But I'll try it.

Your kyokushin style has harsh requirements. But I believe that was Sensei Oyama's way of thinking. That a black belt should have a meaning. Where I live, there is a kyokushin dojo. They make the white belts hit directories. A lot of punches on those directories.

Did you have to do that too?

Dr. Augustus Dayafter said...

Mat, we've all seen your picture... your head DOES weigh 200lbs! Just kidding bro :) My kids make my heart melt all the time concerning karate, unfortunatley when it melts, the juice runs straight to my tear ducts. I was practicing a few kicks with my friend Shane the other day and my daughter came running up just in time to catch a kick (nowhere near full force than God) to the side of the head. She still got knocked down though. She was about to start crying and then just got up (with a nice little bruise forming) and said, "its ok Daddy, lets try it again... I can block it this time!" I was a broken man... Just to think that I had hurt my lttle girl was one thing, but when she got up and was ready for more I knew in an instant that I was raising a true Karate-ka!

Mir said...

Yes, Mat, my feet are on the wall for support also. My goal is to be able to do it free-standing but I've been informed that this takes years of experience for your muscles to know what to tighten, and how to adjust.

Yes. You will feel dizzy, especially if you come up too quickly. Slowly stand up, almost unfolding yourself in slow motion.

Thank you for inspiring me, Mat. I'm going to go look for the benefits of inverting, and post them on my weblog so that I can logically appreciate what I'm putting myself through. Perhaps it will help with the terror.

Directories? like phone books? They have to punch phone books? No. I haven't had to punch phone books. I could see myself doing so comfortably though.

I HAVE had to punch a canvas bag filled with sand over and over again to condition my knuckles, knees, elbows, shins, etc. etc. I've had to punch/kick a hanging punching bag to condition my body. ( My knuckles did open up and bleed even though I was wearing gloves at the time. I've learned how much conditioning is too much. You do not want to strike to the point of injury.) I've punched Makiwara boards (not often though).

I do condition my shins, and arms almost every second day by rubbing them, and striking them with a metal rod for about a half hour.

These are requirements for Kyokushin karate. I don't find them harsh, though. We've built up our resistance. We start of slowly, and gently as white belts. Then as our body adjusts, we increase intensity.

Mir said...

Aw, Oniyagi..It must have felt awful to be in that situation.

I admire the courage of your little girl to jump into the conviction that she could have blocked your kick.

I would suggest helping her realize that the best block is to "not be there". Her best self defense is not to plan on blocking the kick, but to avoid it altogether. So if she sees someone practicing karate, whether it's you, or anyone else... she should give them respectful distance.

Dr. Augustus Dayafter said...

Not being there is what Wado Ryu is all about! She's my little trooper though. She asked me earlier today if we could go outside to "prastice karate". "Sparring" with her improves my horse stance, so I had to agree :) I have to get a seriously low horse stance to "spar" with her since she's only a little over three feet tall and I'm nearly 6'5", but she is a joy to spar with :)

Mathieu said...

Oni - LOL. I know, it's built that way, what can I say.

I agree with supergroup, do tell her to move away! Ouchie...

And yes, phonebooks. They put it on the ground and punch away!

Ouch for the knuckles...